All my anxiety melted away when Mallory Conger, the PR rep for the Astros handed me the ball and said, "Head for the mound". The sun was shining, the roof to Minute Maid Park was open and there was a healthy pre-game crowd of about thirty thousand for a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Brewers.

I took the ball from Mallory and lightly jogged to the mound, purposefully skipping over the third-base line and gingerly walking up the freshly moistened mound. It was a deep brown color, almost like coffee in stark contrast to the emerald green infield. I didn't even realize that Wesley Walker, rookie reliever was making his way behind home plate to catch my pitch.

I had been practicing days before because I didn't want the embarrassment of a short ball. There's about 60 feet of grass on the side of my driveway where I put a pitch-back net. I was just trying to hit the net on a regular basis and I had for several early morning warm-ups.

Wesley nodded that he was ready so I began my wind-up, remembering the advice of Bill Bishop, our managing editor here at the station. He cautioned that I should try a motion similar to a whip; reaching as far back as I could with good follow-through. So I reached back with enough of a leg kick and let the ball go at the highest point as my arm came forward. Then, I watched as the ball drifted toward home plate and I began to get excited as I saw the ball actually going over the plate.

There was polite applause and Wesley jumped up from his crouching position and jogged halfway to meet me and sign the ball. He seemed even more surprised than me that the ball was indeed a strike. I then jogged off the field and up to my seat along the third base line. My wife snapped these pictures that I will treasure for years to come.

Best of all, they won the game in extra innings.

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